King's Lynn: Vaccination centre move to make way for new QEH

The centre at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in King's Lynn has moved from the Inspire Centre to a new unit on the Gayton Road site.

The Inspire Centre is set to be demolished to make way for a new multi-storey car park, which will in turn free up space for a new hospital to be built on what is currently the QEH's car park.

A model of the proposed new hospital to replace the crumbling QEH (Image: Chris Bishop)

The government has still not confirmed whether it will fund a £682m replacement for the crumbling QEH, which is operating more than 10 years past its expected lifespan, with thousands of props supporting its sagging concrete roof.

Paul Brooks, director of estates and facilities at the QEH, said: “The work across our site continues as we work hard to maximise the safety of our building.

“This move is an important step in our modernising journey, while we await further news from our national colleagues in the New Hospital Programme.

Props in place to prevent the ceiling from collapsing at the QEH (Image: Chris Bishop)

"The demolition of the Inspire Centre will create space for a new multi-storey car park, for which we continue to work with the council to resolve some outstanding queries in our planning application."

The vaccination centre re-opens for patients on Wednesday, March 8.

Alyson Lacey, its general manager, said: “We are now the only Covid-19 vaccination centre in King’s Lynn and we look forward to welcoming patients and staff to our new centre for their future jabs.

The Inspire Centre is set to be demolished to help make way for a new hospital at the QEH site (Image: Google)

“We’ll be launching our Spring campaign for boosters very soon, so please keep an eye out for that."

Helen Blanchard, interim chief nurse at the hospital, said: “This is a positive move for our vaccination team who have provided an outstanding service to both our staff and the public throughout the pandemic and beyond.”